Pispala is a

city area An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, t ...

2.5 km from the centre of

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. It is located on the northern slope of Pispalanharju, the highest

esker An esker, eskar, eschar, or os, sometimes called an ''asar'', ''osar'', or ''serpent kame'', is a long, winding ridge of stratified sand and gravel, examples of which occur in glaciated and formerly glaciated regions of Europe and North Amer ...

in Finland. Together with

Pyynikki Pyynikki ( sv, Pynike) is a district and a nature reserve in Tampere, Finland. It is located in the Pyynikinharju ridge, between the city center and the western district of Pispala. Pyynikinharju is the highest esker in the world, rising 85 meter ...

, Pispala is widely considered the most beautiful area of Tampere and

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mo ...

s are often guided there for the view and the unique urban design features of the area. A monument to the Finnish poet

Lauri Viita Lauri Arvi Viita (17 December 1916 – 22 December 1965) was a poet hailing from the Pispala district of Tampere, Finland. Viita was a verbally talented son of a carpenter who became a self-taught writer. He only published four poetry collections, ...

is located near the highest point of the ridge and there is a famous landmark in the area called the

Shot tower A shot tower is a tower designed for the production of small-diameter shot balls by free fall of molten lead, which is then caught in a water basin. The shot is primarily used for projectiles in shotguns, and for ballast, radiation shielding ...

( fi, Pispalan haulitorni.).

History

Pispala is named after the ''House of Pispa'', which had the obligation to house the

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

s during their travel. It was first mentioned in 1492. Pispala was a rural area until as recently as 1869, at the time there were only two farms in the area: Pispala and Provasti. As Tampere was industrialised, Pispala grew without a unified local development plan, resulting in unique building styles and solutions. Ratakatu 5 in Tampere Aug2008 001

Specifically factory and construction workers resided there with most of them being originally from Tampere or the nearby areas such as Ostrobothnia. Pispala was a part of

Pirkkala Pirkkala (; sv, Birkala) is a municipality of Finland. It is located some south-west from Tampere in the Pirkanmaa region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is , which makes ...

until 1922, when it was divided into Pohjois-Pirkkala and Etelä-Pirkkala. Pispala was a part of Pohjois-Pirkkala until it was transferred to Tampere in 1937. In the next year, Pohjois-Pirkkala was renamed to

Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporatio ...

. It is a periurban area or urban village and many of the features of the place echo this aspect.

Neighbourhoods

Ylä-Pispala

Pispalan harjulta, punainen pääty - panoramio

Ylä-Pispala ("Upper Pispala") is bordered on the

Tampere–Pori railway The Tampere–Pori railway is a railway running between the cities of Tampere and Pori in Finland. The line carries passenger traffic from Tampere to Pori via five railway stations and continues as a freight line to the Port of Pori. Tampere–Por ...

in the north, Pyynikki in the east,

Tahmela Tahmela is a district in Tampere, Finland. It is located between Ylä-Pispala and Pyynikki on the shores of Lake Pyhäjärvi. There is a Varala Sports College in Tahmela. There are rental agricultural plots on the shore of Tahmela, and Kurpitsal ...

in the south and Ala-Pispala in the west. There is the Pispala School in Ylä-Pispala, where the 1st-6th grades of

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

study. The school is located near the highest point of the ridge. The Pispalan Moreeni ry association, founded in 1969, also operates in Ylä-Pispala, which owns an old shotgun factory located next to Ahjola.

Ala-Pispala

Ala-Pispala ("Lower Pispala") borders the Tampere-Pori railway in the north, Ylä-Pispala in the east, Lake Pyhäjärvi in the south and

Hyhky Hyhky ( sv, Hycky or ''Hyhkö'') is a district in the northwestern part of Tampere, Finland. It is bordered on the north by Lielahti, on the east by Ala-Pispala, on the south by Kaarila and on the west by Epilä. The village of Hyhky, which orig ...

in the west. The Pispala Church, designed by architect Jaakko Ilveskoski and commissioned in 1971, is located in Ala-Pispala and is one of the three churches in the Harju Parish, which is part of the Tampere Parish Association.Harjun seurakunta – Tampereen seurakunnat
(in Finnish)

Culture of Pispala

Many well-known Finnish artists and celebrities have lived and live in Pispala. These include

Olavi Virta Olavi Virta (originally to 1926 Oskari Olavi Ilmén) (27 February 1915 in Sysmä, Grand Duchy of Finland – 14 July 1972 in Pispala, Tampere, Finland) was a Finnish singer, acclaimed during his time as the "King" of Finnish tango. Between 1939 a ...

Mikko Alatalo Mikko Tapio Alatalo (born 1 May 1951) is a Finnish musician and politician. Career Alatalo was born in Kuivaniemi, now a part of Ii, Finland. He is mostly known for his long and successful musical career. His style is primarily seen as chi ...

Hannu Salama Hannu Sulo Salama (born 4 October 1936) is a Finnish author. Biography and work Hannu Salama was born in Kouvola, Kymenlaakso region in Southern Finland. He spent his childhood in the Pispala district of the city of Tampere, in a traditional ...

Seela Sella Seela Maini Marjatta Sella (née Virtanen, b. 30 December 1936) is a Finnish film actress. She was born in Tampere, Finland. During her career, which has spanned more than 60 years to date, Seela Sella has had roles in productions at the Finnis ...

, Keith Armstrong,

Aaro Hellaakoski Aaro Hellaakoski (June 22, 1893 – November 23, 1952) was a Finnish poet whose work includes some of the earliest examples of modernism in Finnish literature. Hellaakoski was born in Oulu. By profession he was a geographer conducting studies in ...

. The only Finnish writer awarded with the

Nobel Prize in Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...

, F. E. Sillanpää located his novel ''Hiltu ja Ragnar'' (1923) − which the author considered his best work, in Pispala. More recently it has featured as a main setting for the events in

The Butterfly from Ural ''The Butterfly from Ural'' or ''Far Away from Ural'' ( fi, Uralin perhonen) is a Finnish 2008 animated short film directed by . The film tells the story of former President of Finland Gustaf Mannerheim – although his name is not mentioned in t ...

( fi, Uralin perhonen) animated

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

directed by

Katariina Lillqvist Katariina (Finnish; ''Katarina'' in Swedish) is a district in the Uittamo-Skanssi ward of the city of Turku, in Finland. It is located in the south of the city, and is mainly a low-density residential suburb. There is also a nature reserve in th ...

in 2008. There are many small associations in the area and they are supported by an umbrella organization called the Pispalan kumppanuus. Pispala houses the oldest still active public sauna in Finland. Rajaportin sauna began its operation in 1906 and is currently owned by the City of Tampere. However it is run by a local Pispala Sauna Association ( fi, Pispalan saunayhdistys ry.).Website of the Pispalan Sauna Association (english)
/ref> Pispala currently houses the Pispala Centre of Contemporary Arts at

Hirvitalo Hirvitalo () is a social center in the Pispala's Tahmela district of Tampere, Finland. It houses the Center of Contemporary Art Pispala. What is there? In Hirvitalo there are 3 gallery rooms, recording studio, a seriegraphy space and a shop. In ...

which organises various events both outdoors in various places around the suburb and within their gallery situated upon "moose street," Hirvikatu. It is run by the Pispala Cultural Association Pispala Library is a community library locals founded in 2001 when the Tampere City Library closed its branch library in Pispala. It contains an anarchist bookshelf, computers and small gallery space and is involved in various community arts outreach projects. Also found in Pispala is Kurpitsatalo ("Pumpkin House") a community gardening project that celebrates the cycle of the year with traditional pagan festivals, music and also has various allotments. Today Pispala has a vibrant

artivist Artivism is a portmanteau word combining ''art'' and ''activism'', and is sometimes also referred to as ''Social Artivism''. The term artivism in US English takes roots, or branches, off of a 1997 gathering between Chicano artists from East Los An ...

atmosphere and has much in kin with other

bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

arts areas such as

Užupis Užupis ( yi, זארעטשע, be, Зарэчча, russian: Заречье, pl, Zarzecze) is a neighborhood in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, largely located in Vilnius's old town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Užupis means "beyond the r ...

Montmartre Montmartre ( , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Right Bank. The historic district established by the City of Paris in 1995 is bordered by Rue Ca ...

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

Freetown Christiania Freetown Christiania, also known as Christiania ( da, Fristaden Christiania or '), is an intentional community, commune and micronation in the Christianshavn neighbourhood of the Danish capital city of Copenhagen, Christinia, Christianshavn, C ...

References

External links

Stairs of Pispala, Webpages of the Pispala districtPispalainen local newsletterPispala Portal to associations and all things PispalainenPispalan Radio 729 kHz and 99,5 MHz broadcast from shot-tower
{{Tampere Cityscape Districts of Tampere